Thursday, October 14, 2010

A Career in Knowledge Management?

A very interesting article written by Professor Kan Siew Ning, former president of the Information & Knowledge Management Society iKMS, Singapore (www.ikms.org.sg)

 Here are few excerpts

Considering a career in KM






The Knowledge Manager's Role
















Irony of a CKO job


So a CKO need to posses the following set of core competencies
  1. Leadership and Management
  2. Communications
  3. Strategic Thinking
  4. Tools and Techniques
  5. Personal Behaviors
  6. Personal Knowledge & Cognitive Capability
Here is the link to the article
http://knowledge.typepad.com/ikms_newsletter/2006/05/a_career_in_kno.html



Friday, October 8, 2010

Social Media Screw Ups - A History

This presentations covers some interesting instances about how product failures captured by social media caused the companies millions.


read more at http://www.socialmediainfluence.com/

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

iKMS Singapore KM Award winners

About iKMS Singapore
The Information and Knowledge Management Society is a non-profit, membership based professional organisation founded in Singapore in 2001 to promote knowledge sharing and good practice in knowledge and information management.
Purpose of the KM Excellence Awards
The KM Excellence Awards are intended to surface examples of good knowledge management practice within Singapore, in any type of organization:
  • for the learning benefit of the professional KM community
  • to promote knowledge exchange among organizations that are already on a KM journey
  • to build the confidence of organizations that are considering a KM journey
Types of Award
Applications are evaluated in two categories: whether they are making innovative and
productive use of Technology and Infrastructure to support knowledge and information
management; and whether they are successfully introducing change in Culture and
Processes to support knowledge and information management goals.
The are four (+ 1 )main levels of award:
  1. Bronze – where a KM initiative is judged to be starting to make some positive impact
  2. Silver – where a KM initiative is judged to be having real business impact in parts of the organisation, but this impact is not yet pervasive across the organisation
  3. Gold – where a KM initiative is judged to have pervasive, positive business impact in all parts of the organisation
  4. Platinum –where an organisation has closely aligned its efforts in both Technology and Culture categories, and is judged to merit a Gold in both.
  5. Merit - Organisations that cannot yet demonstrate clear business impact but show great promise in the view of the evaluation panel, may be awarded a Merit Award.
2010 iKMS Excellence Award winners


2009 iKMS Excellence Award winners


2008 iKMS Excellence Award winners




Thursday, September 9, 2010

Skillset for a KM Job includes

According to the ITJobsWatch.co.uk, for the 6 months to 23 September 2010, IT jobs within the UK citing Knowledge Management also mentioned the following IT skills in order of popularity. The figures indicate the number of jobs and their proportion against the total number of IT job ads sampled that cited Knowledge Management.

KM Jobs Titles








KM IT Skills












KM Vendors




















Sunday, August 29, 2010

2010 - KM Singapore Award Winners


KM EXCELLENCE AWARD Winners

The levels of awards for the KM Excellence initiatives are bronze (launch, with some noticeable impacts), silver (strong business impacts in parts of the organisation), gold (success and transformation across the oranisation), and platinum (performing at gold levels in culture and process + technology infrastructure). Merit awards are also given to organisations which formally launched KM but are still in the early stages and are likely to see positive impacts soon.

Winners this year included 
  • Singapore Armed Forces (SAF: platinum)
  • Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC: silver)
  •  Supreme Court of Singapore (bronze) 
  • The Attorney-General’s Chambers (bronze). 
The platinum award was given for the first ever time this year. Merit awards went to Institute of Chemical Engineering and Science (using technology to support their work), Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS: SharePoint implementation) and Yokogawa Engineering Asia (engineer access to critical information via content re-use strategy).

The purpose of the awards is knowledge exchange among award nominees, building confidence in organisations embarking on the KM journey, and increasing opportunities for learning. The awards are not benchmarking awards (such as the MAKE awards), but they highlight good practices and involve peer evaluation.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

2009 - Indian MAKE Winners

Key Findings
  • Newcomers to this year’s Indian MAKE Winner’s circle are: HCL Technologies and ICICI Bank. Larsen & Toubro – E&C Division, a former Indian MAKE Winner, returned to this year’s list of top companies.
  • Enterprises failing to repeat as Indian MAKE Winners were: Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries.
  • Many of the Indian MAKE leaders began implementing their corporate knowledge strategies during the early 2000s – several years after Japanese and South Korean companies took the decision. Even though they started later, the 2009 Indian MAKE Winners, especially in the IT solutions sector, have reached parity with Asia’s knowledge driven leaders in most of the critical MAKE knowledge dimensions. Indian based organizations have been very successful at benchmarking and transferring knowledge best practices from both Asian and global MAKE leaders.
  • Asian MAKE leaders, especially located in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, have made great strides in their ability to innovate and develop new knowledge-based products and services. Only a few years ago Asian firms were considered innovation ‘followers.’ In many business sectors they now are considered equals. Although Indian companies are narrowing the gap with their competitors, they need to adopt new innovation management strategies in order to be viewed as true innovation leaders.
  • Although Indian MAKE Finalists and Winners publicly state that they are intellectual capital (IC) driven organizations, most of them do not have in place strategies, methods and processes for actively managing, measuring and reporting their enterprise IC. This is revealed in the significant gap between Indian and Global MAKE leaders in this critical knowledge performance dimension. Without strong corporate direction, Indian companies will have difficulty in reducing this gap and achieving their stated aim of becoming world class IC firms.
  • While Indian MAKE leaders emphasize the importance of employee training and development, the vast majority of Indian enterprises still are not allocating sufficient resources to improve employee skills and competencies. While India has several internationally-recognized institutes of higher learning, a significant number of Indian universities are producing graduates whose skills do not match the requirements of Indian companies. A stronger academic/government/business partnership is required to ensure that India has the 21st workforce it requires.
  • One area where Indian MAKE leaders are making progress when compared to their Asian counterparts is in ‘Creating Value from Customer Knowledge.’ However, except for some outstanding Indian MAKE leaders in the IT and telecommunications sectors, most Indian companies still have a long way to go in implementing state-of-the-art, customer-focused knowledge processes found in the world’s best enterprises. To compete on the global stage, Indian companies will have to devote considerable management time and resources to this knowledge performance dimension.
  • Financial reporting for Asian companies (including Indian firms) is more opaque than found in North America and Europe. As a result, Indian and other Asian companies have placed less emphasis on managing, measuring and reporting their effectiveness in transforming enterprise knowledge into increased shareholder value. Investors and national / global financial regulators are increasingly demanding greater ‘transparency’ in reporting this information. Indian firms will come under growing pressure to implement best practices in this area.
  • This 5th annual Indian MAKE study has revealed that the country’s knowledge leaders are still few in number and concentrated in a small number of business sectors (57% of the Finalists are from the IT solutions sector), indicating that there continues to be few knowledge ‘role models’ available throughout Indian society.
  • Return on Revenues for the 2009 Indian MAKE Winners averaged 15.0% – over five times the Global Fortune 500 median. Return on Assets for the 2009 Indian MAKE Winners averaged 16.3% – over seven times the Global Fortune 500 median. The leaders in both metrics were Infosys Technologies, MindTree and Tata Consultancy Services.
  • It should be noted that there continues to be a significant gap (in the total composite score) between the Indian MAKE Finalists and other Indian companies nominated in this year’s study. The result continues to reflect a two-tier Indian knowledge leadership ranking table. In other words, the Indian MAKE Winners and Finalists have knowledge processes which match those of MAKE leaders from around the world. On the other hand, the remaining Indian MAKE nominees are still in the early stages of implementing their enterprise knowledge strategies and must spend more time and effort before they can join the Indian MAKE Winners’ circle.
  • The Indian government and national business associations continue to face the challenge of creating programs that encourage and facilitate the sharing of best knowledge practices between the Indian MAKE Winners and the rest of country’s business and industry. This structured transfer of knowledge skills and competencies will enable all of Indian society to more effectively compete in today’s global knowledge economy.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

2009 - North America MAKE Winners

Key Findings
  • Newcomers to this year’s North American MAKE Winner’s circle are: ConocoPhillips and MITRE. Hewlett-Packard, a former North American MAKE Winner, returned to this year’s list of top companies.
  • Enterprises failing to repeat as North American MAKE Winners were: Air Products & Chemicals, Procter & Gamble, and US National Aeronautics & Space Administration.
  • The economic and competitive advantages of pursuing a business strategy based on knowledge leadership are both tangible and significant. One of the clearest metrics to demonstrate this fact is Total Shareholder Return (TSR). Even during the most severe decline in TSR since the Great Depression – the 10-year average TSR for the 2009 North American MAKE Winners was 12.0%, over five times that of the US Fortune 500 company median.
  • Return on Revenues for the 2009 North American MAKE Winners averaged 11.2% – over three times the Global Fortune 500 median. Return on Assets for the 2009 North American MAKE Winners averaged 9.7% – nearly three times the Global Fortune 500 median. The MAKE leaders in both these metrics were Apple, Google and Microsoft.
  • According to the MAKE expert panel, the North American knowledge-based economy is driven by the following key business sectors (based on the number of MAKE Finalists in each industry): diversified manufacturing, IT hardware/ software/ solutions,  and oil & gas.
  • During the past decade North American firms have allocated considerable resources to improving their innovation and new product management capabilities, and it appears to be yielding benefits in terms of improved competitiveness and profitability. This MAKE knowledge performance dimension had the highest average Winner’s score.
  • North America MAKE organizations are facing leadership challenges in developing knowledge workers. A combination of factors – the retirement of growing numbers of ‘baby boomers’ and difficulties in recruiting talented new knowledge workers from the small pool of ‘Generation Y’ individuals – is forcing North American firms to devote significant resources to human intellectual capital management. This MAKE knowledge performance dimension had the lowest average Winner’s score.
  • The 8th annual North American MAKE study has revealed that the number of committed knowledge-driven organizations has declined in the face of severe economic disruptions. Those organizations which are continuing to invest in creating and implementing a strategic enterprise knowledge strategy will come out of this economic recession with a significant competitive advantage.

Friday, August 20, 2010

2009 - Global MAKE Winners



Key Findings
  • Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is a newcomer to this year’s Global MAKE Winner’s circle. The British Broadcasting Corporation, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia and Wipro Technologies, former Global MAKE Winners, returned to this year’s list of top companies.
  • Enterprises failing to repeat as Global MAKE Winners were: APQC, BP, Honda, Royal Dutch Shell, Unilever and Wikipedia
  • Enterprises with long-term knowledge-driven strategies are continuing to invest in innovation, knowledge sharing and collaboration, and human intellectual capital – especially skills and competencies development – and will emerge from the global recession in stronger positions.
  • The global economic downturn is accelerating the consolidation of key business sectors, including airlines, automotives, computers, consulting, defense, energy, information technology, Internet, media and pharmaceuticals. By the year 2012, there will be 3-5 global companies in each of the major business sectors. Those companies with strong knowledge driven strategies are most likely to survive and prosper.
  • Organizations around the world are facing leadership challenges in developing knowledge workers. This MAKE knowledge performance dimension had the lowest average Winners’ score. A combination of factors – the retirement of growing numbers of ‘baby boomers’ and difficulties in recruiting talented new knowledge workers from the small pool of ‘Generation Y’ individuals – is forcing organizations to devote significant resources to human intellectual capital management.
  • A growing number of organizations are taking on ‘Global’ characteristics – especially
    consulting and professional services firms, financial services, energy and media companies. These ‘Global’ organizations tend to operate as ‘independent’ companies within a Federal structure and without the traditional corporate head office.
  • While the number of European organizations adopting knowledge-driven approaches is expanding, the number of European-headquartered Global MAKE Finalists and Winners continues to decline. The top-tier of European companies is falling behind their Asian and North American competitors at the cutting-edge of the Knowledge Economy.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

2009 - European MAKE Winners




















Key Findings
  • IKEA is a newcomer to this year’s European MAKE Winner’s circle. Ericsson, Mondragon Group and Siemens, former European MAKE Winners, returned to this year’s list of top companies.
  • Enterprises failing to repeat as European MAKE Winners were: Heineken, Repsol-YPF, Schlumberger and Tesco.
  • Even in the current global economic recession, this year’s European MAKE Winners have delivered superior financial performance. Return on Revenues average 6.7% – over two times the Global Fortune 500 median. The leaders in this metric were Nokia, SAP and Siemens. Return on Assets average 9.8% – over four times the Global Fortune 500 median. The leaders in this metric were the BBC, Nokia and SAP.
  • According to the MAKE expert panel, the European knowledge-based economy is driven by the following key business sectors (based on the number of MAKE Finalists in each industry): diversified manufacturing, food production/retail, oil & gas, and network communications.
  • During the past decade European firms have allocated considerable resources to improving their innovation and new product management capabilities, and it appears to be yielding benefits in terms of improved competitiveness and profitability. This MAKE knowledge performance dimension had the highest average Winner’s score.
  • Europe MAKE leaders are creating wealth through maximizing enterprise intellectual capital.
  • European MAKE organizations are facing leadership challenges in developing knowledge workers. This MAKE knowledge performance dimension had the lowest average Winner’s score. A combination of factors – the retirement of growing numbers of ‘baby boomers’ and difficulties in recruiting talented new knowledge workers from the small pool of ‘Generation Y’ individuals – is forcing European firms to devote significant resources to human intellectual capital management.
  • The 9th European MAKE study has revealed that the number of committed knowledgedriven organizations has declined in the face of severe economic disruptions. Those organizations which are continuing to invest in creating and implementing a strategic enterprise knowledge strategy

Monday, August 16, 2010

2009 - ASIAN MAKE Winners
























Key findings
  • Many of the Asian MAKE leaders adopted their corporate knowledge strategies during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Although starting several years after pioneering Western companies, Asian-based organizations have been very successful at benchmarking and transferring knowledge best practices found in both European and North American MAKE Winners. Today, Asian MAKE leaders have reached parity with or have surpassed their European and North American counterparts in a number of knowledge-driven performance capabilities.
  • European and North American MAKE organizations are facing leadership challenges in developing knowledge workers. A combination of factors – the retirement of growing numbers of ‘baby boomers’ and difficulties in recruiting talented new knowledge workers from the small pool of ‘Generation Y’ individuals – is forcing European and North American firms to devote significant resources to human intellectual capital management.
  • European companies are considered the pioneers in enterprise intellectual capital management and continue to lead in this critical knowledge performance dimension. North American MAKE leaders have improved their capabilities in this area. Asian MAKE leaders are focusing on intellectual property, intellectual assets and brands, but as a rule still do not have in place enterprise-wide intellectual capital management strategies.
  • Advanced IT-enabled enterprise collaborative knowledge sharing and social networking tools are now a core competency for MAKE Winners. Asian, European and North American MAKE leaders show equal skills in applying new Internet-based tools to effectively share and reuse knowledge in an increasingly global workplace. That said, knowledge-driven organizations able to harness Web 2.0 tools to engage ‘Generation Y’ staff seem to have a competitive advantage over enterprises continuing to rely on codified knowledge databases and repositories.
  • Asian and European MAKE Winners have improved their scores in managing customer knowledge. There is very little to differentiate the regional MAKE Winners in this important knowledge performance dimension.
  • Financial reporting for Asian companies is more opaque than found in Europe and North America. As a result, Asian companies have placed less emphasis on managing, measuring and reporting their effectiveness in transforming enterprise knowledge into increased shareholder/stakeholder value. Investors and national/global financial regulators are increasingly demanding greater ‘transparency’ in reporting this information. Asian firms will come under growing pressure to implement best practices in this area.
  • According to the MAKE expert panel, the Asian knowledge-based economy is driven by the following key business sectors (based on the number of MAKE Finalists in each industry): electronics & electrical equipment, IT software/solutions, motor vehicle manufacturing, and the public sector.
  • Based on the results of this year’s study, a number of Asian MAKE leaders have reached parity with or now lead their European and North American counterparts in the global knowledge race. The Asian MAKE Winners have shown improvements in organizational culture and innovation – both critical to creating a global knowledge-driven organization. On the other hand, opportunities exist to improve the management of enterprise intellectual capital and organizational learning.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

2007 - Indian MAKE Winners

1. MindTree Consulting  
2. Tata Steel
3. Larsen & Toubro (Engineering & Construction Division)
4. Infosys Technologies
5. Tata Consultancy Services
6. Wipro Technologies
7. Satyam Computer Services
8. Eureka Forbes  (Products)
9. Bharti Airtel  (Mobile Services)

Reference link : http://www.kmindia.in/make_awards.htm  

Saturday, August 14, 2010

2007 - Global MAKE Winners

 The Winners of the 10th annual 2007 Global MAKE study, conducted by Teleos in association with The KNOW Network, are (in alphabetical order): 

 - Accenture (Global)
 - Apple (United States)
 - BP (United Kingdom)
 - British Broadcasting Corporation (United Kingdom)
 - Ernst & Young (Global)
 - Fluor (United States)
 - General Electric (United States)
 - Google (United States)
 - IBM (United States)
 - Infosys Technologies (India)
 - Intel (United States)
 - McKinsey & Company (Global)
 - Microsoft (United States)
 - Nokia (Finland)
 - Royal Dutch Shell (The Netherlands/United Kingdom)
 - Samsung Group (S. Korea)
 - 3M (United States)
 - Toyota (Japan)
 - Wikipedia (Global)
 - Wipro Technologies (India)
 

 McKinsey & Company is the overall 2007 Global MAKE Winner for the first time.  

 A total of 131 organizations have been named Global MAKE Finalists since the MAKE research program began in 1998.  And, of this group, only 50 organizations have been recognized as Global MAKE Winners.  They are concentrated in just 20 business sectors.

 An even more select group of organizations form the 2007 Global MAKE Hall of Fame.  These 21 organizations have been Global MAKE Finalists in each of the past five studies: Accenture, BP, Ernst & Young, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Honda Motor, IBM, Infosys Technologies, Intel, McKinsey & Company, Microsoft, Nokia, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Royal Dutch Shell, Samsung Group, Schlumberger, Siemens, Sony, 3M, Toyota and Wipro Technologies.

Reference Link: www.knowledgebusiness.com 

Thursday, August 12, 2010

KM (Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise) MAKE Awards

MAKE (Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise) Award ceremony, which recognizes the best organizations in KM based on an annual study conducted by the Know Network and Teleos. The annual MAKE study serves as a benchmark to recognize those Global, Regional, and National companies which are leaders in effectively transforming enterprise knowledge into wealth-creating ideas, products and solutions.
These studies/awards are based on the MAKE framework of eight key knowledge performance dimensions that are visible drivers of world-class knowledge organizations:
  • creating an enterprise knowledge-driven culture
  • developing knowledge workers through senior management leadership
  • delivering knowledge-based products/services/solutions
  • maximizing enterprise intellectual capital
  • creating an enterprise environment for collaborative knowledge sharing • creating a learning organization
  • delivering value based on customer/stakeholder knowledge
  • transforming enterprise knowledge into shareholder/stakeholder value

The Award is divided into 5 categories :
1. Global MAKE Winners
2. ASIAN MAKE Winners
3. North American MAKE Winners
4. European MAKE Winners
5. Indian MAKE Winners

Monday, August 9, 2010

Is KM Going Down?

This interesting conversation started on 16 may 2006